Over the past five years, the world has changed considerably. Not only are the socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic still noticeable, but also the geopolitical conflict in Ukraine is causing an energy crisis at the global level through its inflationary pressure. Uncertainty in food supply draws attention to the global impacts apart from the direct human toll in the conflict.
In parallel, the impact of climate change with extreme weather phenomena such as draughts and excessive rainfall causes human suffering all around the globe. All these changes contribute to uneven economic growth and divergent development paths, calling for urgent policy action. The question is how and to what extent science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy can contribute to enforcing the necessary changes. At least two topics are identified to be instrumental in tackling the grand challenges: the green and digital transition.
The emerging technologies reshaping our societies’ economic, social, digital, and material infrastructures can be pivotal in much-needed transformations and responses to crises. However, these technologies involve risks and challenges that must be addressed to realise their potential. Hence, it is unsurprising that innovation policy expectations have significantly increased in this highly complex, uncertain, and rapidly changing context. There is a certain consensus that there ought to be some directionality towards innovation policy if grand challenges are to be addressed. In the past, the main goal of innovation policy was to enhance productivity and competitiveness to foster long-term economic growth. Nowadays, innovation policy agendas cover ambitious goals concerning socio-economic transitions towards more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient systems. These broad goals, not surprisingly, are shared with other policy domains, such as environment, education, energy, and regional development.
The BELSPO-MERI STI conference aims to take stock of the new goals set for innovation policies and position them into a broader policy context. It will focus on two main themes :
In this context, Belgium is a small open economy with limited resources and a highly regionalised STI policy system. How can small countries devise a relevant research and innovation policy, considering the urgency of the current grand challenges? Indeed, small countries should not stand aside and refrain from delivering a positive contribution to tackling grand challenges. The BELSPO-MERI STI conference hopes to contribute to this debate.
Date: 25 April 2024
Place: Royal Museum for Art and History, Brussels, Belgium
Karl Boosten
Head of MERI-BELSPO
